Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. Sort of... not the official holiday, but for me, it might as well be. I am just reminded of how blessed I have been, so this morning I spent some time to reflect.

I am thankful for...

...my wife. Ten months into marraige, I have two more months to claim the title of "newlywed," and I am loving it! My marraige is also put into perspective by the marraiges of several of my friends. Two couples I know who were married relatively recently are either seperated or divorced. I don't know the details, nor do I particularly want to know, but it is enough to really make me thankful for a wife who loves me, especially in this age of acceptance of divorce. As for me, I take my vow seriously: til death do us part!

...my family. My only sibling and I are very close despite a decent age difference; how many brother/sister pairs are likely to be each other's Best Woman and Man of Honor? That says it all. My parents are also very supportive of me, and have always been fair, and they always will be there for me. I am closer to my extended family than ever before. On my wife's side, I know my sister in-law more than I thought I would get to since she moved out to Oregon shortly after we did, and during our recent trip to Ohio, I felt very comfortable and "at home" with the extended family. I can safely say that I have no quarrels with any family members on either side.

...my faith. While I have had some extreme highs and lows, my faith has never wavered. It has been tested, but never completely broken. When I am especially close to God, life is at its best. When I am not as close as I should be, returning to where I need to be always seems to make everything better, even things which would seem to be unrelated, like finances and relationships. Through it all, I know that I have placed my trust in a savior that will never falter even when I am not at my best. A very comforting feeling.

...my country. While I am not as patriotic as I used to be due to the decay of America's moral foundations, I still love my country and am thankful to be a part of it. Even though our constitution has been wildly misinterpreted from the intents of our founders, America still remains a country where at least I am not persecuted for my faith, which is much more than many Christians can say about their own countries. The more I delve deeper into American history at school, the greater my respect for our beginnings and the greater my appreciation for what our forefathers had to go through to make our country a reality.